Sept. 4 - Family night

It's always nice when something happens unexpectly. Tonight just happened to be family night. I talked to my brother, my mom and my dad.

When I came home from work, I first called my mom but she wasn't home. I then called David. We talked for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I have no idea what we talked about for so long but it was a good conversation. After I got off the phone with him, I decided to make some nachos. I had just got started when my mom called. We ended up talking for a good 30 minutes or so. It was a good conversation, we even laughed at the same stuff. As I was hanging up the phone with her, my dad called. Again, I spent a good 30 minutes or so talking to him. As always, it was a good call. He reason for calling - he was watching the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader tryouts. The cheerleaders were talking about their dads, so he thought of me and called. Ahhh....

It was a good evening - I'm very happy and smiling.

Today, Aug. 21

The day started off a little rough. I communted to work on my bike but forgot my shirt and shoes. Michael had to bring them to me. He was so nice to do this.

Tonight, we went to my friend, Gerald, Not going away party. He is indeed going away to NorthWestern to get his doctorate in Music but plans to come back in a few years; thus his not going away party. The party started at Randy's house in North Boulder. I should add that this was an 80's dress up party. Most everyone was dressed in 80's. I felt a little undressed with my lime green dress and my hair in a side ponytail. After Randy's house, most people did a cruiser ride down to the Rio. I however, drove downtown. Of course, I bet the crew to the bar. However, I wasn't alone. My pregnant friend Sarah was there waiting at the bar. After I ordered a drink, the group showed up and headed up to the roof bar. We hung out there for an hour or so then headed next door to 80's night. What we didn't realize was it didn't start until 10. The majority of us made it until 10 and then we started to dance. Oh my, I didn't realize that dancing all night could make me so tired.

The cool thing about the night was a few people asked me how old I was, they had no idea that I was 32. I hope it stays that way!

The next time I go out dancing, I have to bring all my gay guy friends. They are so much fun to dance with.

wedding dress shopping, horse back riding & slumber parties

Yes, this weekend was a fun-filled one. Friday night, I went wedding dress shopping with my friend Jeannine. We went to David's bridal and then out to dinner. It was a nice time to catch up with Jeannine and Kristine.

Saturday felt like a vacation day. Cindy and I went horse back riding at Somero Ranch in Estes Park. The trail was awesome. Even though it was a guided trip; I felt that I we were actually horse back riding. I'd do it again. After the horse back riding, we had a picnic by the river followed by a ride on the Peak to Peak highway. As always, it was beautiful, but we were getting tired. No time for being sleepy because we still had a trail run to do. The trail reminded both us of home. It was so green with lots of trees and followed a river. I can't wait to go back up to the mountains and run the trail again.

Today, started off to be a very relaxing day. I re-watched the tour de france from yesterday, read some of the Harry Potter book, watched today's tour, a few episodes of Grays and a quick mountain bike ride. After all this, I attended a girl's only party - http://www.slumberparties.com/. It was very interesting; nothing to crazy.

Until next time...

The first run after Ironman....

Wow, today I did my first run after Ironman. I finally decided that I couldn't sit around the house all day and go out to dinner without doing some form of exercise. I decided running was the quickest and easiest thing to do, so I went for a run.

After I finally got out the door, I debated the trail that I was going to run. I finally decided to run Cottontail to 73rd Street and make a loop. It wasn't very hilly; and, hopefully I would feel good. I really wanted to run the trail across the street but it is uphill for 1. 5 miles. I figured I wouldn't feel good while running uphill so I opted for Cottontail.

When I left the house, a storm front was moving in; I hoped that I wouldn't get caught in the storm. I started running when I left the parking lot; moving quite slow. I had no idea that I would never be able to increase the pace.

Normally, I feel good after 10-20 minutes of running. Today, this did not happen. I could feel that I was going super slow even though I did not wear my watch. I had zero speed, not that I needed speed today; but it would have been nice to be able to run a bit faster.

I'm so glad that I got out for a 35 min run. however, my legs were super heavy and slow. I hope I feel better tomorrow when I mt. bike.

ethopian food & martinis

Going out for dinner and drinks at a martini bar is what I did tonight with Michael's family. It was a lot of fun.

We started with dinner at Ras Kasssas. It is an Ethiopian restaurant; yes, Ethiopians eat. The whole eating experience is why you go eat here. Each person orders food; then it all comes out on a platter for the whole table. Therefore, the group can share the food. Along with sharing the food with everyone; everyone eats with his/her hands. The servers provide the table with bread, a sponging/tortilla like bread. You then use this bread to pick up the food and eat. (There is no untinsils while eating here.)

Tonight was my third time eating at this restuarant. The first two times was not my 'cup of tea.' However, tonight I really enjoyed the food and the company. Tonight, Michael's aunt and uncle join us along with Christine and John. It was a new experience for them and I actually liked the food.

After dinner, all six of us went to the Purple Martini Bar at the new 29th Street Mall, a place I had never visited. We all ordered martinis and listened to jazz music while sitting outside looking at the Flatirons.

It was a wonderful night. I forget sometimes how much fun it is to hang out with family and also how much fun it is to do stuff out of the ordinary, like eating Ethiopian food and going out drinking and listening to music!

The dress that I couldn't get off...

Last night I went to dinner with my friend Gerald and Melissa. After dinner, I didn't feel like coming home so I went to our new outdoor mall to shop around. I went into Ann Taylor Loft - a women's store and went straight to their sale rack. They had two very cute dresses that I decided to try on. The first one didn't work out. The second one which was cuter didn't look right on me either. I started to take off this dress and couldn't get if off - that's right I couldn't get it over my head. I instantly thought of our shopping trip. I kept trying and trying and couldn't get it off. I finally went out to the floor and explained to the sales clerk what was going on. She came back to the dressing room and asked me to unzip the zipper on the side. I said that I did. However, the zipper was only down about two inches when it should have been down about 6 inches - it was stuck. The kind sales clerk then asked me if I liked the dress and I said no; so, she ripped the zipper apart leaving the side of the dress in not such a good shape. Needless to say, I was laughing but very happy that I could finally get the dress off! I have concluded that I dresses do not work for me; they never look right and they always seem to get stuck.

Time to catch up..

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been months since I wrote in my blog. Intead of catching up, why don't I just try to start again.

What did I learn today...
1. When I put my bike on my roof rack, double check it. It might not be on very tight and could fall off my car. It didn't today, but it was a close call.
2. Don't wrap left over clif bloks in tissues. The tissues stick to the bloks. I tried to wash them but I don't think it worked.
3. The ride to Jamestown is easy and fun.
4. I'm a procrasinator, I'm updating my blog and not doing my homework.
5. After all these years, taco salad is still my favorite meal. And cookies are still my favorite food.

That's it for today.

Week of Jan. 29

This is going to be a short week at home. We're going to Crested Butte, tomorrow (Thursday), for a long weekend. Our friends Gary and Cindy won 4 free lift tickets; so, of course we had to go.

The first three days of the week here at home have been busy. After driving down from the mountains on Monday morning, I baked cookies, did laundry and rode for an hour before meeting my friend, Jeannine, for lunch. (It was her 30th birthday.) We had lunch at the Med, then went out for coffee. While drinking, we took a stroll down Pearl Street to Title 9 to sign up for the cycling club again this year. I had a wonderful afternoon with her. After I left Jeannine, I had to run a few errands, get the oil changed in Michael's car and return a book to Front Range College. I came home to walk the dog then off I went again to pick up Michael from work and go for a swim. Wow, what a busy day.

Yesterday, I spent all day on the computer. It was my day of job hunting and applying to jobs. It was a very successful day; I applied to 9 jobs. Very cool! After the day in front of the computer, Michael and I did a spin on the bikes.

Today, I finished applying to a few jobs; then did all my classwork for the week. My writing class is fun and I'm learning; but, it takes a lot more time than I ever expected. I'm really glad I choose the online class; because I get to do all my work on my own time, well sort-of. We have assignments every week. The assignments are due by the end of the week. Since I didn't want to "work" while I am in Crested Butte, I had to do all the school work today.

After I finished the school, I left the house to go for a swim. The swim was a good. Then after the swim, I meet some friends to go to Eldora for a skate ski race. The race was hard for me this week perhaps I shouldn't have done two workouts in a row and/or I should have eaten after the swim. Lately, I haven't been hungry so I forget to eat. I didn't realized that I hadn't had anything to eat since 1 until I got home tonight at 8:00. That's a long time to go without eating especially while training.

That's it for this week... off to Crested Butte for some downhill skiing!

Week of Jan. 22

Another week of unemployment is here. I can't believe I'm in my third week of not working. The time sure does fly by...

What was on the agenda for this week? Training and looking for a job. The training picked up just a bit. My big workouts were a 1.5 hr run, 2.5hr bike and 2000 yards in the pool. And I did my first skate ski race on Wednesday night at Eldora. It was so much fun! My lungs hurt a bit but it was good fun!

What else kept my time occupied this week? I had lunch with two ENLASO friends, Liesl and Susanne on Monday and later that evening we had a Fleet Feet triathlon meeting. Then on Wednesday night had dinner with friends in Nederland and Thursday night had a sports massage and went to happy hour with my Naropa friends. On the last day of the week, Friday, I had lunch with Liz and Jackie. Wow, it sure was a busy social week!

I haven't been feeling up to par for over a month now. Last week, I went to the doctor's and they took blood work. I talked to the doctor on Monday and he said all the blood work came back just fine. Most of the week, I felt fine but today, Sat, I'm back in bed feeling yucky. The doc seems to think it some kind of virus that just has to lives it course. Yuck!

I also spent some time doing my online writing class this week. I'm really enjoy the class work. I feel that when it's all done, I'll be able to write better.

Until next week...

Tuesday, Jan. 16

I'm in my second week of unemployment. So far, it's been fun and I haven't been bored. Life has just been busy. I will need to buckle down and start looking for a job very soon - like the end of the this week.

Today, has been busy once again. I went for a long run (1:25) this morning, then out to lunch with my old co-workers. After I got home, I once again tried to start my class at Front Range Community College. It's taken me hours/days to get to register for this class. It all started last Thursday. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, all will be set to go. I'm crossing my fingers!

I've now spent the last few hours on the computer - doing what., who knows. It's amazing how much time is used in a day by sitting in front of the computer. So with that said, I'm logging off for now to do yoga and fix supper.

Smiles...